Lucky’s career night helps Texans hold off Frank Phillips

Lucky made 8-of-19 shots from the field in the most action he has seen all season.  The Texans also got 13 points apiece fromYanick Moreira, Ryan Martin, and Michael Karena.

With the victory, South Plains (15-5, 4-3) maintains pace with Midland College (13-5, 4-3) for fourth place in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference standings.

South Plains got off to a quick start Monday night, jumping out to a 16-6 lead in the opening minutes.

Although South Plains never trailed, the contest turned out to be quite the nail biter with Frank Phillips storming back each time the Texans built a lead.

The Plainsmen (12-9, 2-5) countered South Plains' start with an 11-1 scoring run that was capped by a Greg Nelson 3 that tied the game up at 17 apiece.

In what quickly became the theme of the game, South Plains responded with an 8-0 run, but soon saw that lead again dwindle to two.  A few minutes later, the Texans enjoyed an 11-point lead, 44-33, before settling with a 46-40 advantage at the half.

The Texans were able to keep a fair advantage on their opponent for much of the second half, leading by as many as 10 and with only 3:19 to go in the game held a 77-69 advantage following a field goal by Lucky.

Frank Phillips proved to have one last run in them as the Plainsmen cut the lead to five with a 3.  Karena pushed the Texan lead back to seven with a dunk, courtesy of a pass by Lucky.

The Plainsmen then hit another 3 before taking advantage of a turnover by Moreira that led to a fast-break field for FPC and narrowed the Texan lead to only two points, 79-77.

South Plains would hold the Plainsmen rally off, though, forcing a turnover with 40 seconds left on the clock that would ultimately force the Plainsmen to foul and send South Plains to the free throw line where Martin would hit both to seal the 82-78 victory.

Holiday Inn Express of Levelland sponsored the night's game, donating t-shirts the Texan Cheerleaders threw to the crowd as well as a variety of gift cards fans in attendance had the opportunity to win.

The winners of the Holiday Inn Express halftime drawings during halftime of the Texan game were JoAnn Atchison ($25 iTunes card); Brian Gerstenberger ($50 United card); Danny Vest ($100 United card); and Monty Rogers ($75 Levelland Time certificate).  All prizes were donated by Holiday Inn Express.

South Plains will now look to maintain their position in the conference standings when they travel to Clarendon College (12-9, 1-6) for a 7:45 p.m. tip-off Thursday night.  Clarendon dropped their Monday night game to Midland, 76-71.

Frank Phillips (12-9, 2-5)
Ronald Scott 6-16 5-7 19, Earl Hill 5-15 1-1 13, Akeem Johnson 1-3 1-2 3, Greg Monday 0-0 0-0 0, Emmanuel Johnson 2-6 0-0 4, Greg Nelson 5-9 0-0 12, Taquan McDew 7-9 1-2 21, Demetris Lafontant 1-1 2-4 4, Jordan Whelan 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 28-60 10-16 78

South Plains (15-5, 4-3)
Yanick Moreira 6-15 1-2 13, Jamaal Samuel 0-0 0-0 0, Darrel Lucky 8-19 2-2 20, Devonte Smith 2-5 2-2 6, Kendahl Amerson 2-7 1-2 7, Roderick Lawrence 1-3 1-2 4, Brandon Neel3-5 0-0 6, J.R. Owens 0-3 0-0 0, Ryan Martin 4-7 5-5 13, Michael Karena 6-8 1-2 13,Anthony Walker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-72 13-17 82
SCORE BY PERIODS    1st    2nd    TOTAL
Frank Phillips                  40    38    78
South Plains                    46    36    82

FG%: Frank Phillips .467, South Plains .444. 3-pt FG:Frank Phillips 12-26 (Scott 2-6, Hill 2-7, Johnson 0-2, Nelson 2-4, McDew 6-7), South Plains 5-17 (Lucky 2-7, Amerson 2-6, Lawrence 1-3, Owens 0-1). Rebounds: Frank Phillips 27 (McDew 7), South Plains 50 (TEAM 10). Fouls Frank Phillips 13, South Plains 17. Fouled out: Karena . Technical: none. Assists: Frank Phillips 13 (Scott 6), South Plains 15 (Smith 11). Steals: Frank Phillips 12 (Scott 4), South Plains 13 (Lucky 4, Smith 4). Blocked shots: Frank Phillips 4 (Hill 3), South Plains 3 (Moreira 2). Turnovers: Frank Phillips 18, South Plains 18.

Monday night scores from around the WJCAC

No. 24 South Plains (15-5, 4-3) 82, Frank Phillips (12-9, 2-5) 78

No. 10 New Mexico (19-2, 7-0) 61, Odessa (16-5, 6-2) 57

No. 16 Howard (17-3, 5-2) 89, NMMI 74

Midland (13-5, 4-3) 76, Clarendon (12-9, 1-6) 71

Thursday, Jan. 31 WJCAC schedule

No. 24 South Plains at Clarendon

No. 10 New Mexico at Midland

No. 16 Howard at Frank Phillips

NMMI at Western Texas